On the Other Hand

LSU fans were saddened Saturday night with a loss to unranked Mississippi State. With the game out of reach at 34-10, the Tigers turned the game over to freshman quarterback Brandon Harris who was able to lead a comeback charge for the Tigers that came up just short of something miraculous. Final score for Saturday’s game being 34-29 State, but there is a much bigger picture for the Tigers.

Let us take into consideration that Mississippi State is unbeaten with a 4-0 record. Let us also consider that they were many people’s dark-horse selection for the SEC West. Dak Prescott is still flying under the Heisman radar, but with Saturday’s win he will definitely receive recognition. Overall, Mississippi State is a very good football team; Dan Mullen, State’s head coach, has his team playing his style of football with a winning mentality. Mississippi State was able to take advantage of the inexperience LSU has on the defensive side of the ball. With an up-tempo, no-huddle style of play, State forced LSU to stay vanilla with their defensive approach which is unusual for the Tigers. Offensively, LSU struggled all night with getting the ball down the football field. The ground game was not overly impressive, which allowed the State defensive backs to be patient coming up against the run; that forced LSU to try to force throws down field that just weren’t there. However, Brandon Harris’s lack of experience help the Tigers close the 24 point gap quickly because he didn’t realize he couldn’t throw the ball down field. Harris got in and started slinging it up and allowing playmakers like Malachi Dupre go up and get the football.

While Saturday’s loss does hurt LSU, there is a lot of positives to take away. While freshman running back Leonard Fournette was quiet all evening, his classmates were able to provide LSU with a spark that they used to climb back into the football game. As previously mentioned, Mississippi State is good, contrary to the previous thoughts most LSU fans about the Bulldogs. LSU’s lack of experience hurt them some, but that will get better and better as the season goes on. LSU has playmakers all over the field on offense and defense; give those boys some time to get their head’s right and LSU is dangerous. A 5 point loss does not look bad when being considered for a playoff-birth; so, do not lose faith in the Tigers. Strap up and get ready for a roller-coaster season that could be one of the most fun in recent memory.